Towel support



July 13 1926.

, M. M: MCKENZIE TOWEL SUPPORT Filed August 10, 1925 n E I F PatentedJuly 13, 1 926. a r

UNITED STATES PATENTorFicE.

MALCOLM MIMCKENZIE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

TOWEL SUPPORT,

Application filed. August 10, 1925. Serial No. 49,408.

This invention relates t porting a towel and the like on patients in.

medical and dental office soiling of their garments means for sups toprevent the and the dropping,

of materials employed during operations, such as for example on thenose,throat or teeth, on the patients and the'floor. ,The

support embodying my invention has been found of particular valuei nconnection with dental work where plaster casts are formed in which casethere is always an excess of material present that must be removed. Inpresent practice, bibs ofvarious types are used which are simply secured around the neck of the patient and hang fiat over his chest, andmaterials dropping from the I patient simply roll to his lap mouth ofthe or to the floor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a support fortowels, which may" be readily placed in proper position on the patientand readily removed upon completion of the operation.

Another object of my invention is to vide a device of this ch towels maybe supported any matter or material from soiling the garproaracter inwhich so as to prevent ments of the patient and to confine all suchmatter or material within the towel.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for suppor ting atowel covering the chest of the patient and held so as to form a basketor receptacle to catch matter dropping from the patients mouth.

It is a still further obj ect of my lIlVGD,

the patient or floor.

The lnvention possess es other advantageous features, some of which withthe foregoing will be set forth at length inthe following descriptionwhere I shall outline in full that form of the i nvention which I haveselected for illustration in the draw- Inge accompanying and formingpart of the present specification. In

said drawings I have shown but one form of my invention but I do notdeslre to be limited thereto, as the invention as expressed 1n. theclaims may be embodied in a p forms.

lurality of other Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder en ibodying my inventiomwiththe open ends shown lockedtogether as when in use, and with said endsshown in open position in dotted lines to indicate their position beforei the support is attached on the patient; and 2 is a perspective viewillustrating the device with the towel thereon in opera tive position ona patient.

My invention comprises a frame 1 made of suitable lightmateriahpreferably wire, and obviously may assume many forms. In thepresent form illustrating an embodiment of my invention, I have providedtwo vertical wires 2 and 3, with their lower ends 4: and'5 curvedupwardly on the frontvside of the holder. Preferably, thecurved portionsl and 5 are parallel. The ends of the portions 4; and 5 are connected bya horizontal wire 6, which is preferably welded or soldered thereto. Theends! and -8 of the wire 6 extend slightly beyond the portions 42nd 5respectively and are curved backwardly to the upright wires 2 and 3 towhich the same are also fixed in any suitable manner. The wires 2 and 3are [secured together by a wire 9, preferably at thelr curved portionsin order to make the holder more rigid. The upper ends 10 and 11 ofthevertical wires 2 and 3 are bent back slightly as indicated at 12 and13 so asto'form a rest on the shoulders of the patient and are providedwith hooks 1 and 15- respectiv ely. Suitable clasps or grips 16 and 17are provided on thehorizontal rod 6 adjacent the ends of the portions 4and 5 of the wires 2 and 3. Similar clasps 18 and 19 are also providedon the wires 2 and 3 adjacent the bent portions 12 and 13 thereof.

In operation, the frame 1, with the hooks 1t and 15 disengaged asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, is'placed on the chest of the m0patient with the curved portions 12 and 13 resting on his shoulders. Thehooks 14 and 15 are then engaged as shown in Fig. 1, the same being heldtogether by the spring action of the wires 2 and 3 in a manner readilyunderstood. A towel 20 is then spread over the frame and clamp :l at itsupper edge 21 by the clasps 18 and 19, the portion of the towel betweenthe clasps 18 and 19 covering the chest of the patient, and the freeends resting flat on the upper arm portions of the patient. The lower oropposite edge 22 of the towel is engaged by clasps 16 and 17, and theintermediate portion of the towel is pushed downwardly so as to term areceptacle within the curved portions 4L, 5, 7 and 8 as shown in Fig. 2.

From this it will be seen that the towel 20 is supported by the frame 1to cover the patients garments and in the form of a receptacle orbasket. Furthermore, towels may be readily removed and replaced with outremoving the frame from the patient. It is apparent that additionalclasping means may be provided, and that they may be arranged in variouspositions. Likewise, the several wires may assume many contours and bearranged dilierently. I therefore do not limit my invention to theparticular term of frame shown.

1 claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising two spaced verticalelements formed with bend-s to it the shoulders of the patient andadapted to be connected together adjacent said bends, and formed withupwardly ciirved portions below and in front of said bends, and ahorizontal element connecting the free ends of said curved portions,both ends of which are curved inwardly and secured to the adjacentvertical element.

2. A device of the character described comprising two spaced verticalelements, the upper ends of which are bent to pass over the shoulders ofthe patient and adapted to be secured together in back or the neck: ofthe patient, the lower ends of said elements being formed with upwardlycurved portions in a direction opposite tothe upper bent portions, andan element connecting the lower ends of both of said vertical elementstogether and each of said ends with an intermediate point of itsrespective vertical element.

3. A device of the character described comprising two spaced verticalelements the upper ends of which are bent to pass over the shoulders ofthe patient and provided with hooks adapted to lock the same together inback of the neck of the patient, the lower ends of said elements beingformed with upwardly curved portionsin a direction opposite to the upperbent portions, and an element connecting the lower ends of both of saidvertical elei'i'i'ents together and each of sa d ends with anintermediate point of its respective vertical element.

4. A device of the character described comprising two spacedverticalelements the upper ends of which are bent to pass over theshoulders of the patient and adapted to be secured together in back oithe neck of the patient, the lower endsot said elements being formedwith upwardly curved portions in a direction opposite to the upper bentportions, an element connecting the lower ends of both of said verticalelements together and each of said ends with an intermediate point ofits respective vertical element and means on said last mentioned elementand said two vertical elements adjacent their upper ends for engagingthe edges of a towel.

in testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

DR. MALCOLM M. MQKENZIE.

